BOSTON, Mass. Mitt Romney's campaign got its
first hint something was wrong on the afternoon of Election Day, when
state campaign workers on the ground began reporting huge turnout in areas
favorable to President Obama: northeastern Ohio, northern Virginia,
central Florida and Miami-Dade.

Then came the early exit polls that also were favorable to the president.

But it wasn't until the polls closed that concern turned into alarm. They
expected North Carolina to be called early. It wasn't. They expected
Pennsylvania to be up in the air all night; it went early for the
President.

After Ohio went for Mr. Obama, it was over, but senior advisers say no one
could process it.

"We went into the evening confident we had a good path to victory," said
one senior adviser. "I don't think there was one person who saw this
coming."

They just couldn't believe they had been so wrong. And maybe they weren't:
There was Karl Rove on Fox saying Ohio wasn't settled, so campaign aides
decided to wait. They didn't want to have to withdraw their concession,
like Al Gore did in 2000, and they thought maybe the suburbs of Columbus
and Cincinnati, which hadn't been reported, could make a difference.

Romney was stoic as he talked to the president, an aide said, but his wife
Ann cried. Running mate Paul Ryan seemed genuinely shocked, the adviser
said. Ryan's wife Janna also was shaken and cried softly.

"There's nothing worse than when you think you're going to win, and you
don't," said another adviser. "It was like a sucker punch."

Their emotion was visible on their faces when they walked on stage after
Romney finished his remarks, which Romney had hastily composed, knowing he
had to say something.

Both wives looked stricken, and Ryan himself seemed grim. They all were
thrust on that stage without understanding what had just happened.

"He was shellshocked," one adviser said of Romney.

Romney and his campaign had gone into the evening confident they had a
good path to victory, for emotional and intellectual reasons. The huge and
enthusiastic crowds in swing state after swing state in recent weeks - not
only for Romney but also for Paul Ryan - bolstered what they believed
intellectually: that Obama would not get the kind of turnout he had in
2008.

They thought intensity and enthusiasm were on their side this time - poll
after poll showed Republicans were more motivated to vote than Democrats -
and that would translate into votes for Romney.